Adani Group offered to invest in West Container Terminal to resolve protests: Sri Lankan minister

Sri Lankan minister Godahewa says Adani Group offered to invest in West Container Terminal, a ‘commercially better option’, but with same equity ratio given to China at CCIT.

New Delhi: The row has intensified and diplomatic relations have frayed ever since Sri Lanka unilaterally cancelled an agreement with India and Japan over the East Container Terminal (ECT) of Colombo port.

Now, a Sri Lankan minister has added a new twist to the controversy by claiming that the main Indian investor, the Adani Group, has itself indicated that it would be willing to put its money in the West Container Terminal (WCT), since it could be a better commercial prospect.

“We were on the verge of a national crisis because trade unions were threatening a national strike, if the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the ECT is not cancelled,” said Nalaka Godahewa, state minister for urban development.

“We asked them (Adani Group and its local partner John Keells) for other options. They themselves asked us whether we could look at WCT, but, with the same equity ratio (85%:15%) that was given to China to develop the Colombo Cargo Container Terminal (CCIT) of the port. Commercially, it would be a better option, they said.”

The project came under opposition pressure in Sri Lanka ahead of the parliamentary polls in the country in July 2020. Sri Lanka had at the time assured India that New Delhi and Japan would get the go-ahead after the elections to develop the project, but it had to be “expedited” as it was crucial for all stakeholders.